The Jester, the Prince, and the Princess
by BernkastelMiracleWitch
Summary: Ever since Prince Kouichi's disappearance, the only one that Prince Kouji talked to was not his cousin, nor the Princess. It was the court jester, Kanbara Takuya.
1. Prologue

The Jester, the Prince, and the Princess

Summary: Ever since Prince Kouichi went missing, Prince Kouji needed a friend. His friend wasn't his cousin, or the Princess, but the court jester.

* * *

Prince Kouichi loved to hunt. Bow and arrows were his best friends aside from his twin Kouji, and he loved to ride his horse. He would hunt for rabbits, foxes and even deers if he was lucky enough to find one. He was told not to go so deep in the Dark Forest, where most animals dwelt. He hated that rule.

One day, he saw a fair maiden in the forest. She claimed to be lost. Her lovely golden hair and big green eyes mesmerized him.

"I am a stranger to this land. Would you be kind enough to show me the exit?"

"Y-yes, of course," stammered Kouichi. "Here, why don't I show you?"

The lady smiled and said, "Thank you for being so generous."

"No p,problem. After all, I _am _the prince of this kingdom." He tried to impress her. And he had.

The lady was silent for a while, and the prince assumed that it was out of astonishment. She smiled, but in a different manner this time. "I think I can go by myself now. I'm assuming that is the exit?" she pointed to a certain direction. "Thank you, your highness." after a curtsy, she walked away in a fast pace.

Kouichi frowned. That was quite rude. He went back to where his horse was at, but the white stallion was nowhere to be found. _Maybe he wandered off...? I'll just follow these tracks on the ground. _

* * *

The young witch-in-training got out of the woods easily, and turned to face the trees. "By the name of Orimoto Izumi, you are under my command," she said in a hoarse voice. The Dark Forest obeyed the witch. "Do not let go of the prince, do not get a single soul get in or out. I grant thee ultimate growth-" her hand shot up into the air, and as a great wind swept the grass and the leaves on the trees, there was a feeling that the forest just got darker and bigger. "...and everlasting life. I present thee a part of the Nature Spirits, Rosemon, to protect thee as long as thou shalt exist." she took out a certain device from her pouch. "Palmon!"

There was a flash of light, and a green creature with a flower on its head appeared. "Palmon, warp-evolve! Rosemon!" A human-like figure replaced the green, and it sprinted to the woods, grasping its whip tight.

* * *

Everyone in the royal family was grieving. The king, the queen, and most of all, Prince Kouji. He kept looking out the window, waiting for his brother's return. It didn't happen. Same with the day after that. And the day after the day after that. Two weeks passed and he was still looking out the window, unmoving. He refused to eat and refused to get out of his chambers. After all, it had the best view of the kingdom. Whenever Kouichi would return from hunting, Kouji was always able to make out the shape of his brother on the horse, coming back to the castle.

He didn't come back this time.

The king was getting worried deeply about his son. He realized that his son's level of grief was much more than his and his wife's put together. He tried to do anything to get his happy, smiling son back. If he was going to be like this forever, he might as well have lost both sons.

He tried everything. Beautiful girls. Brilliant performers. Wonderful musicians. Nothing worked.

It was then when a tanned, brunette boy stepped up and started to sing.


	2. Dude, chill

The Jester, the Prince, and the Princess

Summary: Ever since Prince Kouichi went missing, Prince Kouji needed a friend. His friend wasn't his cousin, or the Princess, but the court jester.

* * *

Takuya was a great singer. Everyone in the Light District thought so. So when he heard about the reward that would be given to the one who would bring life back to Prince Kouji's expressionless, sad, sorrowful face, he knew he would be the one bringing home the sweet, sweet gold.

His family was poor, so he definitely needed to entertain the prince. He had two siblings, Taichi and Hikari. The three got along, except that Takuya always felt somehow alien to them, in certain times. He wasn't related by blood to them, but he had been raised under the same roof as them ever since he was a baby. But why did he feel like an outsider sometimes? He resembled them in appearance, resembled in behavior, but somehow there was a difference. "They have a certain glow, Takuya," someone had said. "Whileas you have your talent of singing. You should go to the Fire Kingdom, you'd be rich there."

He did think of going to the Fire Kingdom once. After all, it was not so far away. But he couldn't dream of leaving his family, especially his sister and brother. He could just picture Hikari crying and begging him to not leave.

So there he was, in front of the King and the Queen, with the Prince just staring at him.

As he sang one of his favorite songs that he made himself, he looked at the Queen. She was beautiful and had a mother-like aura. Before she married, she was the princess of the Kingdom of Light, and she married the prince of the Kingdom of Darkness. The two kingdoms were close, so they combined territories, thus making them to have two districts: Light and Darkness. Despite the name 'Light', the Light Kingdom used to be a poor land while the other was rich and much more developed. Nowadays, you could clearly distinguish what kind of things were coming from the Light District and the Darkness District.

Takuya was thinking of the kingdom's history so much that he didn't even realize that his song just ended. He looked up at the prince with the black, raven hair. His expression wasn't dead, but it wasn't smiling either. Obviously, Takuya had failed. _Damn it, if I only just paid attention for once..._

Blushing furiously, Takuya turned around to leave. But then, a voice interrupted his footsteps.

"I want him," blurted out the prince.

_What?_

"I want him as our court jester. He's staying."

Takuya whirled around, not believing his ears.

The king looked at him, and frowned. "What is your name, child?"

"Yagami Takuya, Your Highness." squeaked the brunette. He gulped as he sweat trickled down his temple. He couldn't help but notice prince Kouji's gaze that looked more like a glare. _Does he always look at people like that?_

"Well, Takuya, you are now the court jester, if you can live up to it. I see that you are good at singing, and apparently so does my wife and son. Can you play any instruments, boy?"

Takuya was too overwhelmed by this. He knew he was a commoner, but '_I want him. He's staying.'_?! That prince was such a brat! Like a five year old! _What the hell do you think I am, a toy? _

But of course, he couldn't say all this. "Yes, I can play the piano, the lyre, you name it. I'm famous in my district."

"You come from the Light District, don't you?" asked the prince. Another immature comment. They always ask those questions to commoners, or even nobles who are not in favor of others. It was considered an insult by most people.

All Takuya could do was nod. Then the king said something, but he couldn't remember. His head was spinning, and his stomach was feeling queasy. He didn't have any idea what was going on. _Where's my money? Did I even manage to do what I wanted to do? Where are you taking me? Am I really the court jester? I want to talk to my sister. Where are you taking me? I need my brother. Where are you taking me?_

He ended up in a random room of the castle, where the maids handed him some silly clothes that he could clearly tell that he really got to be the court jester.

* * *

He looked at himself in the mirror. He looked at himself miserably. _This person is not me._

__He was wearing what seemed to be the ugliest colors ever. Dirty yellow and muddy brown, and with a silly hat that made sounds whenever he moved due to the bells attached to it. He frowned.

Before he could ask a question, the maids left.

"Wait!" But too late. The doors snapped shut and he didn't feel like moving to get the door, because the bells really annoyed him.

So he just sat on a bed, which was much plush and bigger than the big brown cloth in his house. He felt drowsy, so he eventually ended up lying down on it and falling asleep.

Few seconds later, or it seemed so to Takuya, the door snapped open.

"WHERE WERE YOU?!" yelled an angry Prince Kouji. "I HAVE WAITED MORE THAN A HALF HOUR AND YOU WERE HERE _SLEEPING?!"_

__Takuya backed away. "Dude, chill," he said, just like he would say to his friends. Then he froze, registering what he just said.

_Oh shit. Did I just call him 'dude'? And I just said 'chill' to a prince!_


End file.
